Business bits: Metro Boston population increasing, Bank of America sees drop in auto loans, Whole Foods to require GMO labeling, and more

The old John Hancock building, left of the large tower, and the new John Hancock, the large tower, dominate the skyline in Boston, in this June 24, 2004, file photo. Behind and to the far right is the Prudential tower, and foreground is the Boston Common and Public Garden. Associated Press

Metro Boston’s population grows

The population of the Metro Boston area grew by about 90,000 in the past two years, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates. About 4.6 million people now live in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area, according to the Census. The Boston Metro Area stayed put at No. 10 in the nation’s population rankings.

There are now 52 U.S. metro areas with populations over a million; Grand Rapids, Mich., is the latest addition to the club, with an estimated population of 1,005,648 as of July 1, 2012.

The Census Bureau issues annual population estimates for all metros, micros and counties across the country, based on its analysis of birth, death and immigration records.

The New York City metro, which sprawls into three states, leads the nation, as always. Its 2012 population is estimated to have been 19.83 million.

The grant will enable the Worcester college to pay for equipment and renovations to its lab, according to MLSC. Quinsigamond plans to update 2,000 square feet of lab space and equip the space with new technologies that will serve as the school’s lab for biotech and related programs. With new equipment and a newly renovated space, the college said it will be able to double the number of students enrolled in biotech and biomedical engineering classes from 100 to 200.

“By affording the college the opportunity to expand this programming, the grant ensures that QCC and the students we graduate are aligned with the economic development needs of our community,” said QCC President Gail Carberry.

Funding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) eduction initiatives in central Massachusetts has been a focus of MLSC. The organization has provided more than $700,000 in funding in the form of equipment and supply grants to public and vocational-technical schools in central Massachusetts.

Netezza co-founder joins Hadapt board

Longtime Boston area tech entrepreneur Jit Saxena has joined the board of directors at Cambridge-based Hadapt, a startup seeking to bridge the gap between open-source database platform Hadoop and businesses.

Saxena formerly co-founded and served as the CEO of data warehousing firm Netezza, which went public in 2007 and was acquired by IBM for $1.7 billion in 2010. Prior to that he founded software firm Applix, which went public in 1994.

Saxena joins a board that also includes Chris Lynch, partner at Atlas Venture and former CEO of analytic database firm Vertica Systems, which Hewlett-Packard acquired for $340 million in 2011. Others on the Hadapt board include well-known venture capitalist Felda Hardymon of Bessemer Venture Partners.

In a blog post, Saxena said that “by natively integrating SQL with Hadoop, Hadapt makes it much easier for businesses to advance Hadoop projects from the lab to production.”

Founded in 2011, Hadapt has raised $16.2 million from Atlas, Bessemer and Norwest Venture Partners.

Newton office property to fetch $200 million

Hines, the Houston-based real estate company, is set to buy Riverside Center in Newton from Equity Office for as much as $200 million.

The 509,000-square-foot office campus was listed earlier this year with HFF. Equity bought the property in 1997 for $32.5 million. At the time, it was a permitted development site.

Riverside Center is 98 percent leased and located at the Massachusetts Turnpike/Route 128 interchange. Originally, the site was home to a former Jordan Marsh warehouse.

A source familiar with the deal said the transaction is expected to close within two weeks for between $195 million and $200 million. “At between $383 and $393 per square foot, this is probably a benchmark for the suburban office market,” the source said. “I don’t think anything has traded at this level on a per foot basis.”

The sale was first reported in the Real Reporter.

EMC, VMware project to have IPO

EMC and VMware’s joint venture spinoff, the Pivotal Initiative, will eventually follow in VMware’s footsteps with an IPO, executives reportedly said in an investor forum, last week.

EMC may seek a strategic partner for Pivotal, according to Bloomberg bulletins. The spinoff will have an estimated $300 million in revenue this year.

EMC and VMware announced the Pivotal Labs spinoff in December as a roll-up of recently acquired cloud computing and web application development functions. The new entity will take about 500 employees from VMware, executives said. Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corp. says it plans to create equity for Pivotal, according to Bloomberg.

VMware Inc. executives additionally discussed projections for VMware itself, according to Bloomberg, saying the firm sees 2014 revenue growth at 15 percent, operating margin improving about 50 basis points per year from 2014 to 2016, from a 2013 non-GAAP operating margin of 32.5 to 33.5 percent. The company reiterated its first-quarter revenue forecast.

VMware plans to offer its VCloud hybrid cloud computing service later this year, according to Bloomberg’s reports from the investor forum.

Whole Foods to require GMO-food labeling

Whole Foods Market reportedly said by 2018 it will require all its suppliers to label food that contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The New York Times reports Whole Foods President A.C. Gallo said suppliers who have already labeled their products have seen an increase in sales, signaling popular demand for the disclosure.

“We’ve seen how our customers have responded to the products we do have labeled,” Gallo told the Times. “Some of our manufacturers say they’ve seen a 15 percent increase in sales of products they have labeled.”